MPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



FOREST SERVICE 



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PR^ninTARY EXAMINA'^ION 0? 'fflE 
rOR-^ST LAtTD OF TH^ IIN^IT-:^D S'^A'^ES IT AVAL. P0Y7D?:R IRPOT 
F-RAR DOTP'R, IJ-RW jr^Rf^T^ry 



By 

Arthur C. Ringland 
Assistant Forester, Forest Service 
October, 1908. 



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Trans-ier 

Arm> Wsr College 

June 20 1933 



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^ REPORT 

--ON A prelihi:lary bxa^.hi-tatioit of the forest la'td of the wited 

STATES NAVAL POY/DER DEPOT >1EAR DORTER, NEW JERSEY 



By Arthur C. Ringland 
Assistant Forester, Forest Seryice 



General Description 

Acregage and Location 

The United States Naval Powder depot comprises an 
area of 393.58 acres. It is situated in Morris County, New 
Jersey, about six miles from Dover, a station on the Delaware, 
Lackawanna and Western Railroad, 41 miles from New Yorlc City. 

The reservation adjoins the Picatiny Arsenal Reser- 
vation of the Army on the southeast and southwest, and lies 
adjacent and south of the Wharton and Northern Railroad of 
Morris County Railroad. This railroad forms the dividing 
line between the two reservations. For this reason the res- 
ervation is very accessible from Dover, and it can be 
reached by driving seven miles over very good macadamized 
roads . 

The Naval Powder Depot was originally a part of 
the Picatiny Arsenal Reservation. Three hundred and fifteen 
acres were turned over to the Navy Department in 1891. Later 
a purchase of 78.58 acres was made in November 1902 and added 
to the southwest part of the reservation. 



CondJ-tion of Roads and Accessibility of Tract 

The reservation is divided from east to west by a 
wel].-graded macadataized road which offers a very good base 
for a system of wood roads and bridle paths. The tract is 
bounded on the south and east by the county road to Dover. 
Numerous gates along the road afford access to old wood roads 
through the northeastern end of the reservation. 

A stone crusher is maintained on the tract to dress 
the roads . 

Description of Locality and general Topography 

The whole reservation extends over gently-rolling 
hills arising from Pic at iny Lake . The highest relative ele- 
vation does not exceed 160 feet. The general elevation is 
approximately 1000 feet above sea level. 

The soil, of glacial origin, is very favorable to 
the growth of hardwoods; in fact, almost the entire area is 
potential forest land. 

The Powder Depot has been established now for seven- 
teen years. There has been a good deal of cutting since then, 
chiefly to clear areas in the vicinity of the powder houses as 
a precaution from brush fires. The tract hardly shows the ef- 
fect of fires. None of any importance have occurred for some 
time, since every care is taken. 

The first cutting was done at about the time of the 

Civil War, and as a result there is now a very thrifty growth 

of timber, where conditions have remained undisturbed since 

that time . 

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Object of the Havy Department 

A small portable sawmill has recently been erected 
in connection with the stone crasher and it is the desire of 
the Chief Gunner in Charge of the Depot to be able to cut on 
specifications sufficient lumber for construction purposes 
about the reservation, and occasionally to secure ties for 
the spur lines to the various powder houses. At the same time 
a certain amount of clearing is necessary to prevent brush fires 
from approaching the powder houses. 

Forest Description 

Throughout the reservation the forest stand is com- 
posed of mixed hardwoods of sprout origin. The prominent 
species occurring are chestnut, rock oaJc, red oak, hemlock, 
red maple, sugar maple, black birch, hickory, basswood, ash, 
poplar, ironwood, dogwood, and witchhazel. By far the greater 
proportion of the stand is made up of the first five species. 

The stands are scattered and in area from a few 
acres to nearly eighty. They are in the main even-aged, the 
result of periodic clean cuttings. Save for the main woodlot 
in the northeastern end of the tract they do not date back 
over fourteen years. 

The main woodlot of about 80 acres and a small patch 
in the extreme southwest corner represent the only area now 
bearing merchantable timber. These particular areas represent 
the result of the oldest cutting — about the time of the Civil 
War — although they have been culled over from time to time 

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for poles and ties. (ExhilDits 3, 4, and 5.) 

The average diameter here would roughly approximate 
9 inches, the height 50 feet, and the age ahout 50 years. 
Scattered veteran chestnut and pin oak over 20 inches are 
occasionally found. 

The remainder of the reservation, as has 'been said, 
consists of even-aged sprout thickets of varying age clasBes 
from one to fourteen years. (Exhibits 2 and 9.) These stajids 
were the result of clear cuttings for the protection of the 
powder houses . 

It is not believed that this system of clean cutting 
is the proper one to afford fully adequate fire protection. 
It can not be doubted that a fire in one of these thickets 
vrould be much harder to fight and control than one in the main 
woodlot . 

Sprout land when cut over and free from unnatural 
influences produces a new growth with astonishing rapidity. 
A growth of five feet in one growing season is not at all un- 
common. Clearly the best system, unless the stumps are grub- 
bed out and the land sown to grass, is one of thinnings just 
heavy enough to afford unbroken shade to the forest floor. 
If the thinning is too heavy the resultant light v/ill permit 
the rapid growth of the sprouts. Sprouts need light to thrive 
and are not slow to take advantage of any opportunity. 

Just below the main drivev/ay northeast of the powder 
house is a good example of too heavy a thinning. The sprouts 

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are coming in here o^uite fast. (3SxhiTDit 1.) Across the main 
road from the administration building can be seen the unfor- 
tunate results of clear cutting. (Esdiibit 5.) This area was 
cut over about seven years ago. It now has the appearance of 
a jungle. The young trees average over fifteen feet high, 
and are so closely crowded that height growth is forced. ITear 
one of the employee's houses, however, toward the Dover gate, 
is a small patch Judiciously thinned. (Exhibit 7.) The trees 
stand so that the crowns just touch. As a consequence the for- 
est floor is quite clean. Here a fire could be controlled with 
ease . 

An excellent system has been devised for the pro- 
tection of the storehouses. A weekly drill is required to 
maintain efficiency. A compressed-air locomotive is used to 
avoid danger from sparks. If, in addition to this drill, the 
patrol of the marines stationed at the reservation can be ex- 
tended to include the main woodlot and the boundaries, the 
system will be ideal. This extended patrol is recommended. 

ITo evidence v/as noted of the deadlj' fungus disease 
which is killing so many of the chestnut trees in the vicinity 
of New York. This bark disease caused by a fungus known as 
Diaporthe parasitica can be detected by the yellowish excres- 
cences, resembling horns, that appear on the limbs. In the 
event of its appearance on the reservation the affected trees 
should be immediately cut and the bark removed and burned. 






Trea tmen t Advise d 

Any plan of treatment for the woodland of the res- 
ervation must "be adapted to the primary one of storing ammu- 
nition and powder. It is therefore necessary, so far as pos- 
sible, to know from year to year the plans for the future en- 
largement , in order that there may be no unusual effort v/asted 
on land v/hich must give way to the plans of the Bureau of Ord- 
nance , 

It is understood, however, that the future enlarge- 
ment of the storage houses will not include the main woodlot 
for some time to come. On this presumption it is recommended 
that material cut from this particular area take the form of 
improvement cuttings. In these cuttings the object should be 
to produce saw timber as quickly as possible. By the sale of 
the small produce, or its use for cordwood, posts, ties, or 
fuel, the expense can be met. In order to accomplish this it 
is recommended that the main woodlot be managed under what is 
known as the Selection System. 

A forest under the Selection System yields timber 
of large dimensions and quantities of small produce as well. 
It is a matter of time, in this case, since the forest is of 
sprout origin and more or less even-aged. 

It should be understood that trees naturally divide 
them.selves in classes. They are described by the forester as 
follows: Dominant, intermediate, suppressed, and dead. Domi- 
nant trees are those whose crowns are entirely open to sunligh 



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Intermediate trees receiTe sunlight from above , "but are shaded 
on the sides, and are likelj'- to "become suppressed. Suppressed 
trees are those v/hich are entirely over-topped hy other trees, 
and are si owls'- dying. 

Ordinarily in an undisturbed forest there is a con- 
stant struggle among the trees. It is a struggle for light, 
the prime necessitjr for growth. Py interfering in this strug- 
gle the forester can by the judicious removal of trees aid the 
promising ones to attain maximum proportions. It is evident 
that in a closely crowded stand the great struggle for light 
produces long and spindly trees of no value. If, however, some 
of these trees are removed, the crowns of the survivors are 
allowed to spread. In this way growth in diameter is greatly 
stimulated and merchantable produce is obtained. Too much 
light, however, will resiilt in wide-branching crowns with 
short stems of little value for lumber. 

Thinnings should be made among the interm.ediate class 
of trees for here the greatest good can be effected. The chest* 
nut, rock oak, and hemlock should be left stajiding in prefer- 
ence to the maple and black birch. The hemlock by reason of 
its scattered occurrence should be retained, not because of 
its merchantable value, but for its aesthetic value. The hem- 
lock foliage offers a very pleasing contrast to the sameness 
of the hardwoods . The oalcs should be given preference over 
the chestnut, as chestnut of sprout origin is short-lived. 



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straight, tall trees, with well-deyeloped, thrifty- 
tops, should he left in preference to spindling, weak-topped 
trees, or those which are crowded, unsoimd, and diseased. 

Dead, dying, aiid suppressed trees should he removed; 
also such of the intermediate trees as are interfering with each 
other or are growing into the crowns of the dominant trees in 
a way that v/ill prevent healthy development. In a group of 
equallj- good trees it is often hest to remove one or more, as 
the remaining trees will then produce larger material than if 
all had heen left. 

In any of the cuttings, hut in the main woodlot only, 
care should he taJcen so far as possible to leave a helt of trees 
on either side of any of the wood roads ajid on the boundaries 
of the reservation. The remaining wooded areas of the reserva- 
tion require different treatment, where it is probable further 
clearings for storehouses will be made . The treatment suggested 
simpljr has in mind adequate fire protection. 

It is recommended that a strip one hundred fset wide 
adjacent to all paths, roads, switches, and storehouses outside 
of the main woodlot, be very heavily thinned leaving only promis- 
ing saplings that will develop into ornamental trees. All re- 
maining stumps should be grubbed out and if possible grass-sown. 

In the interior, thinnings should be made heavy enough 
to allow the crowns to touch and furnish a partial shade and 
prevent rank undergrowth. KLl debris and brush that is of no 
use for fuel should be removed to a place of safety and burned. 

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It v/ill of course 'be necessary to return and thin again as 
soon as the cro^\-ns^begin to crowd. In time a stand of well 
developed even-aged trees will he ohtained with little or no 
growth beneath. The desired appearance of a park will be ob- 
tained. In ordinary forest management where the growth of 
merchantable timber is the object the treatment would be very 
different. (Exhibit 7.) It is this park form of forest which 
will prevent the least danger from fire at a minimiim expense. 
It will certainly be far cheaper than frequent clean cuttings. 

Market Study 

Wood dealers in this locality are accustomed to buy 
stumpage by the acre. It is a poor method for the owner of 
the woodlot; in f act ^ one that makes conservative treatment 
quite impossible . 

In the past before the reservation was set aside the 
tract v/as culled over for charcoal, posts, and cordwood, and 
later for ties and telephone poles. 

There is a good market for these products. Cordwood 
is in demand for fuel and for the brick kilns. Ties and squared 
chestnut posts bring good prices. 

J. S. Dickerson , the largest v;ood dealer in Dover, 
quotes the following list of prices f.o.b, at the Depot siding: 

Mixed cordwood; for brick kilns down to 1" in 

diameter, and for fuel down to 3" $2.50 to 

$3.00 per cord. 
Squared chestnut posts @ $20 per M bd. f t . 6 8 

10, 12, 14 and 16' by 4 x 4 , 5x5, and 6 x 6 .' 
Ties 52/ for rock oak and white oak. 

70/ for rock oak and white oak. 



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Wood cutters receive on the average 75jc a cord. 
The haul is so short that the total expense of cutting and 
haiJling should not exceed $1.50 to $2.00 per cord. 

The extension of the switches to the various powder 
houses and the substitution of new ties will afford a certain 
demand for tie timber. It should not cost over 18/ a, piece 
to cut, log, and saw ties for the use of the reservation. At 
present $1 apiece is paid. Sawing ties is slightly more ex- 
pensive than hewing. The presence of the sawmill, however, 
makes it pay, because considerable lumber can be sawed from 
the sides of logs which would be v/asted if they were hewn. 
Then, too, the slabs can be used for fuel to run the mill 
and the adjacent stone crusher. 

"When the sawmill was first erected it was antici- 
pated that considerable lumber could be obtained from the 
tract. Some of course can, but too much shoiild not be ex- 
pected. A chestnut tree 14" in diameter has hardly more than 
100 feet of liimber. There are not many trees exceeding this 
diameter on the tract. The mill should v/ell pay for itself 
if the small produce is utilized. 

Summary 

ITo great returns can be expected from a conservative 
treatment of this tract, since only about 80 acres can be fxilly 
treated without interfering with the object of the reservation. 
But cordwood for fuel and ties for the switches can be obtained 

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and will readily pay. At the adjoining Picatiny Arsenal of 
the Army it has been found that three cords of wood equal one 
ton of anthracite coal. So whenever cuttings are made the 
slabs and tops should be used for fuel. 

The treatment of the remaining areas referred to is 
very desirable because of the grea,t need for absolute fire pro- 
tection, but not because of expected returns from forest man- 
agement . 

It is recommended that a separate account be main- 
tained showing the expenses and returns from handling the tim- 
ber on the reservation. These accounts should include the 
time and wages of the wood choppers, the amount of wood mate- 
rial cut and sold or used, and all other incidental expenses. 

A preliminary examination of the adjoining Picatiny 
Arsenal of the Army was made by an officer of the Forest Ser- 
vice last winter. In that report a detailed working plan was 
recommended. It is desirable to supplement this recommenda- 
tion with the addition that at the same time a detailed study 
of the If aval Depot be included. 

The fact is emphasized that these tv/o reservations 
including about 2000 acres comprise probably the largest body 
of Federal timberland in the east. Their situation in the 
northern hardv/ood region offers a splendid opportunity for 
the Forest Service to secure very valuable data on one of 
the greatest forest regions of the country. 



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A working plan shoxild "be made of these reservations. 
Cooperation "between the ¥ar and i^Tavy Departments should he se- 
cured in order that a study as a v/hole might he made . The 
working plan should include not only an estimate of the stand- 
ing timber J yield tables and plans for future management, hut 
a nursery for the propagation of important hardwoods and per- 
manent sample plots. The value of the latter can not be over- 
looked. Furthermore the Office of Wood Preservation in the 
Forest Service should establish an experimentaJ. treating plant. 
A splendid opportunity is afforded for the Government operates 
about seven miles of its own railroad. Additional trackage 
is constantly under construction , offering abundant opportu- 
nity for experimentation with railroad ties. 

In conclusion it is sufficient to state that coop- 
eration between the Forest Service and the War and I^Tavy De- 
partment will secure an excellent opportunity to advance ev- 
ery branch of forestry in a region where it is of the utmost 
importance and yet by reason of the absence of public lands 
no opportunity has hitherto been presented. 



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Exhibit # 1. 

Hemlock standards and understory of small 
pole ir.ixed hardwoods. 




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Exhibit ir ?. 

Twelve year old mixed hardwood sprouts 
small poles. 



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Exhibit ^ 3. 

High sprout forest of c:ixed hardwoods cut 
over about 50 years ago for charcoal. This Innd has 
about 25 cords to the acre. Example of area in the 
main v/oodlot. 



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Exhibit # 4. 

Exanple of area in the main woodlot. High 
sprout forest cut over about 50 years ago for charcoal; 
12 years ago for ties; and culled over 8 years ago 
for telephone poles. 




Exhibit # 5. 

Mixed hardwood sprouts seedlings and saplings 
up to 20 feet high. Cut over about seven years ago. 
Contrast this with Exhibit #' 7. 




Exhibit # 6. 

Example of clearing around a porder house. 



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Exhibit # 7. 

Example of area properly thinned and nov/ 
supporting a good cover of mixed hardwood snail poles, 
Contrast the lack of litter here v i th Exhibit # 5. 



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Exhibit # 8. 

Mixed hardwood poles. A type of the aver- 
age appearance of the older trees. 




Exhibit # 9. 



Type of swamp coppice 



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